Interview Shahid Khair (Planning Officer, Baluchistan Education Department)

What policies, best practices, procedures and activities are adopted while
preparing an educational plan?
As far my experience is concerned, we used different tools to gather data, for example,
interviews with stakeholders, teachers, teacher educators, university teachers and parents,
and arranging focus group discussions. We would assess the existing situation objectively
too. We would conduct in pretest posttest manner. The interviews, and the input that we
take is an innovative tool, they are not conventional.

What type of information, resources and data, knowledge (culture, problems) is

needed to prepare and implement a successful plan?
Before us usually planners would set in a room and design plan. They would see
at the existing policy and old policies and design a new one from them. We have changed
this trend, we take all the stakeholders in loop, and we conduct SWOT analysis. In all
these major institutions like Baluchistan Institute for Teacher Education, elementary
colleges, Bureau of Curriculum and all the big schools we conducted SWOT analysis.

To what extent does federal policy and other external agencies and forces
bound you in terms of plan alternatives and time? What is your level of independence
in terms of selection of targets, issues, and action alternatives in proposing change?
Yes, absolutely they bound us. If I speak of Baluchistan action plan, while preparing it we
kept the National Education Policy 2009 in view, we take direction from that. Like it says
that teaching should be child centered not teacher centered. It says that teachers are not

properly trained, so something should be done for their training. We reflected all these
things in Baluchistan education sector plan. We are not bound we just take direction from
them. After eighteenth constitutional amendment education is a provincial subject. And
provinces are free to design policies and plans. We are taking directions and we are still
using 2006 curriculum in Baluchistan.
We consider donor organizations. They influence policies a great deal. This is
because we need their money for implementing our policies, like USAID, UNICEF or
Save the Children etc. They have their own agendas; like they may be interested in
increasing literacy rate or they may like to work on health in the schools. And they
impose their own agendas on us. They want us to include their agendas into our policies.

What do you think are the likely causes, factors and conditions of a failed plan?
What do think are the common barriers (internal and external forces) to a successful
educational planning preparation and implementation?
On the planning and policy level we are successful but there are problems on
implementation side. Our policy is the representative policy of the province. But there are
implementation gaps. We cannot implement what the policy says. There are budget
crises, if you have finance, then there is corruption, there is a scarcity of human
resources. I think we had ignored human resource in the mentioned plan. This is an
important factor, and now it is an impediment in the way of the implementation of the
plan. We should have considered whether our teachers are trained, whether our teachers
trainers are competent enough to train other teachers.

What is the extent of participation of stockholders in planning and

implementing, give examples of the level and type of participation?
Before us policies were made in air-conditioned rooms. We have introduced
innovations. We try to make more implementable policies, and we do it through taking all
the stakeholders in loop and take their viewpoint. We took almost two years in preparing
Baluchistan Education Sector Plan. Now other provinces are copying us.
What are important factor, attributes and conditions of a successful plan?
A successful plan considers the resources that are available to implement it. A
plan should be realistic; it should not be over ambitious, no verbatim, it should be clear.
The planner should be a planning expert, he/she have theoretical and practical knowledge
of planning. All the stakeholders should represent the plan. Then they would own the plan
and it can be said that it has passed through a democratic process. We were unsuccessful
on a previous plan because we did not have a backup plan. There should be plan B and if
possible plan C.
You should have a human resource to make it successful. For example if you have
made a plan to plan sixty thousand teachers, you should first see whether you have
professional trainers for this purpose. You may have an ideal plan, democratically
representative and implementable, and you have the required resources too, but what
would hamper it is the corruption. Technical expertise is important for plan. Culture is
important. Lets take the example of democracy, now west has its own democracy, we

cannot copy that democracy exactly, our democracy should be compatible with our
culture. In this same way we cannot copy their plans, because our context is different.

Recent examples of successful plans and why do you think they are successful.
Why the failed plans fail?
Stakeholders participation is good. But they do it for incentives. Where there is no
incentive there would be less participation. But in implementation they do not participate
in this way, because they want incentives for implementation too. I had prepared a plan
for continuous professional development in Baluchistan. That was an ideal plan, but we
could not implement it. It was due to same reason; they expected incentives. It was for
the headmasters to mentor teachers, to give professional development support inside the
school, but they thought it an extra job, for which they wanted remuneration.
We have ideal plans, definitely. In the plan that I mentioned, it was a mentoring plan,
before me they were prepared, but the mentor would come from somewhere else, he/she
would use to come as long as the funds were available, they would stop it when funds
stopped. I wanted to give life to the spirit of true instructional leadership; I made the
headmaster the mentor of the teachers. If the plan is evaluated it is successful but we
could not implement it. There were administrative issues; the district education officers
did not own it, they had no interest in implementing it. They were thinking of it
something extra than their job. To implement a plan there should be a team for effective
monitoring and evaluation. Before making plan I had included them in planning process.
We had trained headmasters. This was before plan. After plan we trained them again how
to implement plans.

How critical is local reality, experience and knowledge in the planning and
implementing the educational change?
It is very important. If there are organizations that have expertise, their input can
be useful. This is the most important (local perspectives). It has been admitted
internationally that each small area has its own realities. Even each area has its own
curriculum. Frieres pedagogy of the oppressed, he recommends to consult with local
people, identify their problems then design curriculum for them.
Do you provide opportunity for adjustments of your educational plan to suit
local realities, needs and problems?
No, we do not look it at this minute level. Plans in Pakistan are central. Plan
should be bottom-up, it should start from grassroots level. If you are planning for
education you should start from union council level.